Israel arrests 55 suspected Palestinian militants in West Bank

A Palestinian man gets ready to throw a stone towards Israeli border police (unseen) in the West Bank city of Hebron on Nov 21, 2012, following protests against the ongoing Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces seized 55 suspected Palestinian militants in the West Bank on Thursday, the army said, citing a need to quell the occupied territory after a truce ended eight days of fighting in the Gaza Strip. -- PHOTO: AFP

JERUSALEM (REUTERS) - Israeli forces seized 55 suspected Palestinian militants in the West Bank on Thursday, the army said, citing a need to quell the occupied territory after a truce ended eight days of fighting in the Gaza Strip.

The detainees were from various armed Palestinian factions and included "senior operatives," the army said in a statement, adding that it would "continue to maintain order ... and prevent the infiltration of terrorists into Israeli communities."

The West Bank is under the sway of US-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, but many of its residents are sympathetic with his Islamist Hamas rivals who govern Gaza and reject any permanent peace with the Jewish state.

Israel launched an air offensive against Hamas and other Gaza factions on Nov. 14 with the declared aim of stopping their cross-border rocket attacks. The sides entered an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire on Wednesday night.